Pedestal style electronics enclosures are used in telecommunications systems to house splices or terminal connections between service wires or distribution wires and buried telephone cables. Such pedestal enclosures can also be used to house connections to other types of buried utility cables such as for cable television or power distribution. A bracket system is generally provided on the interior of a pedestal enclosure to help arrange and support the cabling and various connections housed in the pedestal enclosure. Since pedestal enclosures are located outdoors, they must be substantially weather tight in order to protect the electronic connections from adverse environmental conditions such as wind, rain, snow and flooding. The pedestal enclosures also have to be relatively secure in order to guard against entry by unauthorized personnel and durable in order to withstand the wear-and-tear associated with being located in an outdoor environment.
Typically, pedestal enclosures include a base section and a cover that are secured together with a fastening or locking system. Unfortunately, existing fastening and locking systems have a number of drawbacks. For example, one existing fastening system utilizes a screw with a cup-washer that threads into a metal insert that is pressed into the top of the base section and a pair of press-in studs that are also provided on the top of the base section. The cover includes three corresponding L-shaped slots for engaging the screw and the two studs. A secondary flap latch is also provided to provide additional protection in the event of a flood. The flap latch is secured to the outer surface of the cover over one of the L-shaped slots. The flap latch includes a slot that engages one of the studs in the base section when the flap latch is closed. To fasten the cover to the base section, the cover is placed on the base section, the flap latch is closed over one of the studs, and the cover is rotated to fully engage the studs and the screw in the corresponding slots. The screw is then tightened down.
With this fastening system, it is cumbersome to disengage the cover from the base section because the screw must be loosened, the cover rotated, and the flap latch flexed outward over the stud while the cover is lifted. Additionally, a technician occasionally will overextend the flap latch causing it to be permanently damaged or get his finger pinched between the flap latch and the stud. Technicians also frequently forget to tighten down the screw leaving the enclosure completely unsecured. Technicians working on pedestal enclosures typically will have a tool matching the head style on the screw of the locking system. Occasionally, these heads will become worn or break requiring replacement. There also could be other reasons to change the screw to one having a different head style such as when the enclosure will be switched over for use in a different application (e.g., from telecommunications to cable television). However, with this type of fastening system it is impractical to change the screw once the pedestal enclosure is installed in the field as it requires cutting and grinding away of the old screw and swaging the new screw in place.
Another similar fastening system also utilizes a screw with cup washer that threads into a metal insert attached to the top of the base section. However, instead of studs and a flap latch, this fastening system incorporates a plastic button attached to a flexible member molded into the top of the base section. To secure the cover to the base section, the cover is lowered onto the base so that the screw engages a complementary slot in the cover and the button snaps into a complementary hole in the cover. The screw is then tightened. To remove the cover, the screw is loosened and the button is depressed through the hole. The cover is also cumbersome to remove with this system and pushing the button a sufficient distance through the hole in the cover can be quite difficult and awkward, and even somewhat painful. Moreover, the security of the enclosure depends entirely on the screw being properly tightened by the technician. It is also impractical to change the screw to one having a different head style for the same reasons described above.
There are other locking systems that utilize quarter-turn locks located in the cover. Some of these quarter-turn locks are arranged at the bottom of the cover and engage a receiver molded into the top of the base section. Other quarter-turn locks are arranged at the top of the cover and engage a receiver supported on some internal structure in the pedestal. With both types of quarter-turn locks, the lock automatically engages the receiver when the cover is placed over the base section thereby securing the cover to the base. To remove the cover, the lock is turned approximately 90° using the appropriate tool and the cover lifted off the base section. These quarter-turn locks have plastic rotators that can be damaged during use. The rotators for the locks also cannot be changed once the lock has been installed onto the cover. In addition, the rotators are very difficult to change before the lock is installed. This makes it difficult to switch over the cover from one application to another that requires a different head style on the rotator once the manufacturing process has started.